Author: Philip Greenish, Chair of Council
Please note: information in this blog was accurate at the time of the meeting – 13 July 2022 – and may now have been superseded.
This has been an unusually busy period for Council which has met on five occasions since our last main in-person meeting on 8 March. We met after our away day on 13 April to agree the schedule for approval of early capital investments to deliver the new Estates Strategic Plan. On 17 May, we met in person to consider the Modernising the Governance project and, specifically, to agree the special resolution of Council to amend the Charter of the University and to revoke the Statutes. We agreed a number of amendments. As required by the Charter, we met again in person on 20 June and passed a second resolution. With this part of the process complete, the resolution will now be taken forward to the Privy Council for its approval.
Council met on Teams on 25 May with a full agenda. We had a comprehensive discussion on the annual report on research and enterprise which was presented by the Vice-President (Research & Enterprise) and included analysis of the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF) outcome. We congratulated Professor Spearing on a strong REF performance and recorded Council’s appreciation of the efforts of a significant number of members of the University community who have made it possible. We noted that the preparations for the next REF have already started.
We then considered the estates masterplan and approved the investment in Sports Phase 2, as well as approving the plan for the next Council Effectiveness Review which will be conducted in the autumn/winter of 2022 with external support. We received the Vice-Chancellor’s annual report on Health and Safety and discussed the Annual Report of Health and Safety Audit and Assurance Committee (a Council sub-committee). Finally, we considered a report on the PASNAS pension scheme and approved a £30M contribution from the University towards deficit recovery.
Our regular, in-person Council meeting was held on 13 July. We met over dinner the previous evening with a broad and stimulating discussion on the work of the Biomedical Research Centre introduced by Professor Mike Grocott, Professor of Anaesthesia and Critical Care and a Consultant in Critical Care Medicine at University Hospital Southampton (UHS). The following morning, we visited the Faculty of Medicine at UHS and were briefed by senior members of the Faculty on key activity and future plans.
Our Council meeting started with the Vice-Chancellor’s report in which he covered pay and pension issues; the political scene; lessons learned from the January exam period; and our recent performance in the National Student Survey (NSS) and league tables. We asked to record our thanks and congratulations to the many people who have contributed to these successes.
The new President of the Students’ Union, Oliver Murray, presented his first report to Council. Amongst other items, he was encouraged that the estates masterplan is addressing the refurbishment of Building 42 and recorded his appreciation of the one-off £1M grant awarded to the Union by the University.
At this time of year, Council reviews the outcome of the business planning process which now looks forward to the next three years. The Finance Committee had already considered the five papers and recommended them to Council noting, in particular, that the papers as a whole demonstrate that our investment plans are affordable. On current plans, we are in a good financial position and Council was content to approve the draft budget and the Treasury Management Strategy.
Having approved the University Strategy earlier in the year, we were presented with the 11 individual Strategic Plans that support its implementation. We were pleased to see this excellent work which articulates how we are going to deliver the strategy and, importantly, how outcomes will be measured in each area.
We then approved the Faraday scheme and the development of the North-East Quadrant. We agreed maximum funding envelopes and approved immediate release of funds to demolish the Faraday Tower. This has taken a long time to arrive and will be a major, and visible, sign of the start of the next stage of improvement of our estate.
The result of the recent staff engagement survey was reported to us, and we were pleased to note the big improvement over the last full survey in 2018, although it highlighted the work that still needs doing to make this the genuinely inclusive institution we aspire to. We discussed potential changes to the conduct of the next survey, which will be reported to us in early 2023, but noted the importance of consistency across surveys so that we can monitor trends.
In other matters, consideration was given to progress against our Strategy KPIs, which is broadly as expected, and the latest Office for Students (OfS) reportable events guidance and the OfS regulatory framework, and approved the proposed regulated fees for 2023/24. We approved promotions and honorary degrees, and variations of our Access and Participation Plan required to meet new guidance from OfS.
Finally, we said farewell to Peter Hollins and Graeme Hobbs who have both completed their second, and last, 3-year terms on Council. We thanked them for their huge contribution to the important work of Council and to the University. Peter’s successor as Chair of UHS, Jenni Douglas-Todd, and Graeme’s successor as chair of our Audit Committee, Richard Gledhill, join Council on 1 August.